Defense investment accounts not only support current operations, they also ensure that our troops will always have the tactical advantage of technological superiority, according to a new report released by AIA.

“We all recognize the need to address the nation’s debt and deficit spending,” said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey at a Senate Aerospace Luncheon. “On the surface, defense investments are easy reductions. But with a worldwide mission and a limited number of service members, we must make up in technological capability what we lack in numbers.”

The future of the U.S. human spaceflight program is at a critical juncture, said Aerospace Industries Association Vice President for Space Frank Slazer.

“Cutting exploration budgets any further threatens our economic growth potential and risks our leadership in space,” Slazer said in testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science and Space. “As a nation we can choose to continue our leadership in manned exploration and innovation or inevitably fall behind.”

U.S. space technology and its many spin-offs have fueled our economy and made us an unquestioned world leader. However, with the…